VintageToneLab

Mastering

Mastering is the final stage of finishing, adding "polish" to your tracks prior to replication, duplication or pressing to vinyl. It involves raising the overall volume of tracks, applying any last minute corrective EQ, overall program compression, setting track order, adding fade ins and outs and making sure your album "flows" and sounds consistent from start to finish. We also include industry standard DDP image files for uploading to your replication house.

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Ask us for a 30 sec sample of your track for FREE!

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Mastering at MarkTulkDigitalMedia (Video)

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Prepare And Check Your Files!

• Please submit interleaved stereo WAV files at 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96 kHz: 24 bit for the best result

• Make sure there is no limiting on the master bus when you are mixing your tracks and only minimal compression (or none at all)

• Leave plenty of headroom for us to work with. i.e don't mix your tracks too hot! Clipped or distorted mixes cannot be fixed at mastering.

• We are unable to accept session files of any format (Pro Tools, Logic etc.) only stereo WAV files.

• Please include as much written information about how you'd like your master to sound. Feel free to refer us to a commercially released reference track as a guide. While we will endeavor to get your master as close as possible to this reference track, please note that the end result will largely depend on the quality of the mix you supply.

• Mastering from up to four stereo stems per song (eg. vocals; guitars/keys; drums; bass) is also available for no additional cost.

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Upload Your Stereo Mixes!

• Please ensure all your files are clearly named (eg. 01_SongName_ArtistName.wav etc.)

• Data compress (WinZip, StuffIt etc.) all your mix files to create a single .zip file containing your entire EP or full length record

• Upload your interleaved stereo .wav files (contact us and we'll send you an upload request link)

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Pay For Your Masters!

• Once we have successfully received your stereo mixes or stems, we calculate the total fee for your job and e-mail you an electronic invoice to pay.

• Mastering starts at $80 per song*, including two revisions for free. Additional revisions are $30 each, if requested. Editing is charged at $80 per hour.

• Mastering for vinyl is available for an additional fee.

• I offer discounted mastering for only $60 per track for unemployed or low-income artists. Contact us to check you qualify.

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When Will My Masters Be Ready?

In most cases, the turnaround time is within 7 days. Once mastered, we will send you a link to download your project.

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What Do I Get?​

• Individual, 16 bit, 44.1kHz masters (in .wav format)

• DDP image file of your EP or full length record**

 

*For billing purposes "one song" is any audio material up to 6 minutes in length. Prices quoted are in USD. All estimates are valid for 30 days only.

**Not included with discounted, per-track mastering. Album layout and a DDP may be purchased separately.